415 Leonard Street

The building fills a 150-foot frontage on Leonard Street and runs 100 feet deep. It rises seven stories, with apartments from the first floor up alongside the lobby, a common recreation room and on-site parking. Robert Scarano Jr. was the architect of record. He was a prolific architect in North Brooklyn's mid-2000s condominium wave, and the building uses the familiar approach of that period: a masonry mid-rise with outdoor space on as many lines as possible, including private balconies and terraces on the upper floors and roof-level space assigned to individual units as limited common elements (private outdoor space that belongs to the condominium but is reserved for one apartment's use).

The plan's own history explains the unit count. The sponsor offered 55 apartments and 24 parking spaces. A later amendment eliminated Unit 1G and turned it into a common recreation room, took part of Unit 1F into that room, shifted part of Unit 1E into the water and gas meter room, gave a second-floor unit a private roof terrace that had been common, and reduced parking to 23. What was built, and what the audited statements describe, is 54 residences and 23 parking spaces.

On the Department of Finance roll the residences run from about 460 to about 1,600 square feet: studios and compact one-bedrooms at the small end, and larger multi-bedroom and terrace units at the top of the building. Storage bins are allocated to specific apartments under the plan rather than sold as separate lots, so whether a bin comes with a given apartment depends on that unit's allocation. Confirm it in writing.

The plan gave the building a central heating and hot-water plant, not the individual unit systems the original text described. It also added a 16-hour doorman, fire-alarm monitoring and elevator phone lines before the condominium began operating. The building is professionally managed with superintendent service.

The audited financial statements for 2018 and 2019 on file in The Roebling Research Library record a condominium spending real money on its fabric:

• Reserves were being rebuilt by assessment. The board levied an annual special assessment in both years to fund capital reserves in line with FHA condominium guidelines. The capital reserve stood at about $175,000 at year-end 2019, up from about $60,000 a year earlier.
• A 2019 construction assessment of about $175,000 funded repairs to apartments after water damage, restoration of the gas supply line, and elevator upgrades required by the Department of Buildings.
• HVAC was the largest recurring repair line, well ahead of elevator, sprinkler and plumbing costs.

None of that is alarming for a building of this age. It does set the questions a buyer should ask now: what the reserve balance is today, whether any assessment has been levied since 2019, where the elevator and HVAC equipment stand in their life cycle, and whether there is any open façade or water-infiltration work. The statements also note that no reserve study has been commissioned, which is common in New York but means the board's capital planning is not formally documented.

Ownership form: Condominium. There is no cooperative-style board interview; resales are typically subject to the board's right of first refusal. Confirm the waiver process in the by-laws.

Leasing: Permitted. The condominium uses a formal lease application. Confirm minimum term and any short-term-rental prohibition in the current house rules.

Pied-à-terre, LLC and trust ownership: Permitted under the standard condominium framework. Several apartments are already held by single-purpose LLCs and trusts per ACRIS.

Parking: A separate purchase with its own deed and tax lot. Establish in writing whether a space conveys with any apartment.

Real estate taxes: Full, unabated taxes since July 1, 2024. Underwrite the current bill for the specific lot.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-02722-7501) and verified listing data. Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified by The Roebling Team research desk. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price.

Underwrite the tax bill that exists now. The 421-a is gone as of the tax year that began July 1, 2024. Older listing sheets and pre-2025 comparables understate the carrying cost.

Count 54, not 55. The plan's original apartment count is out of date. A few older records still carry the eliminated unit.

Ask for the current financials. The 2019 statements show assessment-funded reserves and a construction assessment. Get the most recent audit, the current budget, and the history of any assessments since.

Parking and storage are separate questions. Parking is a separately deeded lot. Storage is allocated by apartment. Confirm both for the specific unit.

Show the real tax number early. Buyers comparing this building with abated inventory will find the difference themselves. Presenting the current bill with True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis puts you in a stronger position than letting it come up in diligence.

Lead with the location and the outdoor space. A block from McCarren Park, with terraces on many lines. Those are the features that separate one line here from another.

Have the paperwork ready. A building with audited statements, a documented capital record and a fully sold-out sponsor is easy for a lender to approve. Make that easy for the buyer's attorney to see.

If you're considering 415 Leonard Street, also evaluate:

• 20 Bayard Street (The Bayard Views): a block west, facing the park; the same 15-year 421-a, expired in the same year
• 125 North 10th Street: mid-2000s Northside condominium with garage parking; the closest peer by vintage
• 214 North 11th Street (Warehouse 11): 2008 Williamsburg condominium near the park's western end, at larger scale
• 144 North 8th Street: 41-residence Williamsburg condominium whose 421-a has also expired
• 50 Greenpoint Avenue: 44-unit Greenpoint condominium from a 2007 filing; the 421-a comparison
• 100 Maspeth Avenue: 2007-cycle East Williamsburg condominium still inside a 25-year 421-a; the tax contrast
• 65 Eckford Street: new 22-apartment condominium near McCarren Park, carrying full taxes from delivery
• 88 Withers Street (Element 88): 2019 condominium a few blocks south on Leonard Street, also with no abatement